'Proposed changesThe above is from 'EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM TO THE VALUE ADDED TAX (CHANGE OF RATE) ORDER 2008 2008 No. 3020' and shows that Labour planned to increase VAT to 18.5% in 2011-12.
VAT rates and exemptions
VAT is a tax on the final consumption of goods and services, collected at every stage of production and distribution. It is charged on the majority of goods and services at the standard rate of 17.5%. The proposed changes will reduce this to 15% from 1 December 2008 until the end of 2009. The standard rate will then return to 17.5% from 1 January 2010, and subsequently increase to 18.5% in 2011-12.'
So the next time Ed 'son of Brown' Miliband or Alan 'needs an economics primer' Johnson witters on about VAT being a regressive tax and that the increase is putting the recovery at risk, maybe the interviewer could raise this point...
More at Scribd here.
Thanks to Harry Cole on Twitter for the spot.
Aye, except when since did 18.5% = 20% O_O. The VAT increase may always have been bound to happen, but all you have highlighted is the slower pace a Labour government would have enacted a regressive tax hike.
ReplyDeleteOf course, just because Labour said they were going to raise it to 18.5% doesn't mean they wouldn't have raised it to 20% !
ReplyDelete